Catch 22
by khughes830
Summary: Those staying spoiler free can read now. Based on Erica stabbing Zach! My own version of what could happen when Kendall feels the ultimate betrayal from her family!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **None of the characters are mine, they belong to TIIC over at ABC - I would treat them much better than they have been treated recently!  
**Characters: **Kendall and Zach and a smattering of others  
**A/N: **As warned in the summary, based on current spoilers. Staying AMC spoiler free - don't read for a couple of weeks. If you are reading, please continue...  
... I am basing this on the spoilers that Erica stabs Zach. I am taking this in a whole different direction. No drugging, no Michael - just my own version of what could happen when Kendall feels the ultimate betrayal from her family!

* * *

Kendall flew through the doors at Pine Valley Hospital. All she had made out was that Zach had been taken to the hospital. She's not even real sure who called, just that Zach had been brought in to the emergency room. She scanned the room, looking for anyone, when she saw Joe Martin coming out of the hallway, heading toward one of the rooms.

"JOE!" she screamed, running toward him. Joe turned around and grabbed Kendall before she could go any further.

"Joe, I got a call that Zach…"

"Yes, Kendall, I'm just heading in now to look at him."

"Joe, what the hell happened?"

"All I know is that he came in with a serious stab wound. Anita just called me down to consult. I haven't had a chance to even look at him yet. I'll come find you…"

He grabbed her arm as she tried to storm the room. He pulled her back and grabbed her by the shoulder. "Kendall, you know you can't go in there."

"But, Joe, you don't understand. I need to…"

"Kendall, you need to wait here and you need to calm down. I'll come find you as soon as I know anything, I swear." With that, Joe went through the doors. Kendall caught a glimpse of Zach, stretched out on the table, completely unconscious. Kendall collapsed into one of the chairs in the waiting room as the tears fell down her face.

She had been so mad at him the last few days. He had cornered her after he saw Ryan leaving her condo one night, demanding to know what they had talked about.

"_Oh god Zach, you know Ryan – spewing the same old crap."_

He had started to pace, running his hands through his hair. When she tried to stop him, he started to yell – not at her, just in general. He went on and on about Ryan and Ethan working together, trying to set him up for something and how scared he was that they were going to involve her.

"_Zach, I told Ryan to butt the hell out and I haven't talked to Ethan in weeks."_

He had tried to make her promise to call him immediately if Ethan started sniffing around, to which she responded that she could take care of herself.

"_No, Kendall, you are failing to understand that… Ethan is becoming obsessed with… I knew this whole Cambias thing would come back to haunt me one day."_

Kendall made the mistake of laughing at him, thinking that he had to be joking about actually being worried about what owning Cambias was doing to Ethan, of all people. Zach had glared at her and stormed out of her condo. She followed him, but he was so preoccupied and she was hopping mad at this point that all they did was yell at each other till she told him to shove it up his ass and walked back to her condo, locking the door and closing all the blinds in the process.

That had been two days ago. She had made plans to surprise him tonight when the phone at Fusion rang. That's how she found herself sitting her, knowing nothing except that someone had stabbed the love of her life.

"Kendall?" Kendall looked up at the voice and saw the last person she wanted anywhere near her.

"Oh god…" Kendall said, shooting out of her chair. Julia grabbed her shoulder and turned her back around. "Kendall, what's wrong? Are you alright? Is there something wrong with the baby?"

Kendall had had enough of Julia Santos and her over the top fake caring crap. "You can cut the crap, Julia. I don't see Ryan anywhere around."

Julia just stared at her. "Kendall, I just wanted to make sure that…"

"That what? That your way into Ryan's heart is alive and kicking. I'm fine, MY baby is fine and you can butt the hell out." With that, Kendall turned on her heel and walked down the hall away from Julia.

Julia stared at her retreating form and pulled her cell phone from her purse. She quickly dialed the number and waited for someone to pick up. "Hey, it's Julia. Yeah, I'm at PVH and I just saw Kendall… what… when in the world did that happen… oh my god, no wonder she… I don't know, she told me to butt the hell out and then she stormed away from me. Yeah, I'll wait around. Bye."

* * *

Kendall threw open the doors to the chapel and collapsed into the last pew, staring at the plain alter at the end of the room. She had never been much of a religious person, feeling that her life was some kind of cosmic joke. Alice had always tried to get her involved with church as a kid, but she found it boring and lame.

She bowed her head as the tears started to stream down her face and fall on her jacket. "Please, if there is anyone listening, please let him live. I don't know how I would be able to go on without him. He's my life, my breath, the force that makes me get out of bed every day. How I managed to live before him, I will never know, but I know that I can't survive without him now."

"Kendall." Kendall looked over her shoulder to see Babe standing in the doorway. Kendall looked back down at her lap as the tears continued to fall. Babe sat down in front of Kendall and reached back, putting her hand on top of Kendall's in her lap. Babe sat there and let Kendall cry until she was finished. When Kendall looked up at Babe, she was holding a tissue out.

"Thanks" Kendall said, taking the tissue from Babe.

"No problem. I've got plenty – you learn that a tissue can be your most trusted friend when you've got a kid around." Kendall looked back down at her growing stomach and rubbed the baby.

"Kendall, what happened? All Danielle told me and Simone was that you got a call and you tore out of the office, screaming something about Zach and PVH, so we came right down here."

"I don't know. All Joe was able to tell me was that Zach had been stabbed and then Julia Santos got in my face and…" Kendall could feel the tears building back up again.

"OK, OK. Well, I'll be that Joe is done examining Zach by now and has some new information. You wanna go find out?"

Kendall nodded and pushed herself off of the seat. Babe smiled at her and walked behind her. They weren't two steps out of the door when Erica came tearing around the corner, with Jackson behind her. Erica grabbed Kendall and hugged her.

"Kendall, Kendall, Kendall. Are you alright?"

"Mother, I'm fine. What in the world are you doing here? Surely you didn't come to make sure Zach was alright. Or did you come to see if he keeled over?"

Jackson pulled Erica off of Kendall and forced himself between the two of them.

"Kendall, I need to tell you something." Kendall just stared at Jackson, imagining what he could possibly have to tell her, not knowing that the news he was about to share was worse than anything currently running through her head.

"Out with it, Jackson. I need to go see…"

"Kendall, you need to know what happened."

"What happened…"

"Look, it was only supposed to be for protection. That's why I got Erica the knife, in case she found herself alone with Madden and needed some extra protection or if she found herself in a warehouse alone again – it was only for protection, but I guess your mother and Zach got into some kind of altercation at the casino today when she was out there doing an interview for the show and…"

Kendall backed up away from Jackson and stared at her mother. "Oh my god" she said as Babe put her hands on Kendall's shoulders to keep her from falling down.

"Kendall, it was an accident" Erica said, trying to approach her daughter.

Kendall pointed at her mother, arm shaking. "You… you… you did this. You tried to…"

"No, I didn't try to do anything. Like I said, it was an accident and…"

Suddenly Kendall was in Erica's face. "Right… an accident involving the one man you would love to be rid of more than anything. Kind of like you shooting Adam was an accident when you were out of your mind thinking he was Michael, huh, mother? You really expect me to buy the whole 'accident' thing from you, mother. DO YOU REALLY?" Kendall was shaking with anger.

"Kendall, your mother…"

"Oh, stuff it Jackson! I can't… she tried to kill… I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS MOTHER!" Kendall spit out as she stormed down the hall, Babe running behind to catch up.

TBC…


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **see chapter one  
**A/N: **And yes, I totally ripped off one of the lines from yesterday for this story!

* * *

Kendall broke into a run, needing to get away from… those people. She found an empty room and collapsed in the visitor's chair, tears streaming down her face. She looked up when the darkness of the room was broken by the light coming in from the open door.

"Go away" she barked, turning her attention to the window.

Babe took a deep breath and walked across the room, squatting in front of Kendall. "Oh, Kendall, I…"

"I DON'T NEED YOUR PITY" she screamed at Babe, shooting out of the chair. She made her way over to the empty bed and sat down on it. Babe stared at her unwilling partner for a moment before taking another cleansing breath and walking over to Kendall, who currently had her head buried in her hands. Babe pulled another tissue out of her purse and placed it on Kendall's lap. She sat next to Kendall silently as she sobbed. Finally, Kendall's cries started to subside. Kendall wiped her face and glared over at Babe, ready to spew hateful things at when Babe held her hand up.

"Look, Kendall, I know… I know what you think of me and it's more than deserved. I know that. I'm not expecting anything else from you. But I just wanted to let you know that… well, I think Zach is a good man and you seem so happy with him and… well, I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry and that…"

"I can't do this with you Babe" Kendall whispered.

"I understand" Babe said, turning on the bed to look at Kendall. "I don't expect to be your new Greenlee. I would never expect that… but, you don't need to go through this by yourself, you don't need to be alone, not for the next few hours at least. Let me help you right now, for tonight, and you can go back to hating me in the morning once Zach's awake, alright?"

Kendall narrowed her eyes at the blonde sitting next to her, realizing she was right. "You know… and I will deny saying this if you repeat it to anyone else, but you're right. I'm not good at being alone anymore and my family…" Just thinking about it made the tears reappear on her face.

Babe started to rub Kendall's back. "You need to calm down, Kendall. You want to go see if Joe will let you see Zach now?" Kendall just nodded.

They walked down the hall in silence. Babe looked back at Kendall once more before pushing open the doors to the emergency waiting room. Anita Santos immediately ran up to them.

"There you are. We've been looking for you everywhere. Zach's been moved to a recovery room, so you can see him now if you want" Anita said, leading her down another hallway.

"How is he?"

"He's asleep right now, more from the pain meds than anything else. He took a nice deep cut, but it didn't seem to hit anything. It was more blood loss than anything, but we got him a transfusion, so he should be alright. We'll do a couple more tests in the morning and go from there."

Anita stopped and pushed open the door. Kendall gasped – Zach was such a vibrant, exciting man that it was almost shocking to see him lying in this hospital bed with machines beeping around him. Kendall was frozen to her spot, not really knowing what to do.

Babe saw the fear in her eyes. "Kendall, I know it looks bad now, but I'm sure things will be better in the morning. Go sit with him, talk to him, hold his hand." Kendall looked over at her and nodded.

"Is there anything you need me to do, anyone you want me to…"

"Bianca" she whispered, suddenly remembering her sister. "Bianca should know that… oh hell, I don't even know. Jackson may have already called her, but if you could…."

"I'll take care of it" Babe said, pulling her phone out of her purse. "What do you want me to tell her?"

"Tell her… tell her… God, I don't know. Just ask her what she wants to know and tell her that." Kendall didn't wait for Babe's reaction before walking into Zach's room, pulling the door shut behind her.

All she could do was stare. Zach rarely slept, so to see him like this was difficult. She dropped her purse on the table next to his bed and perched on the side. She ran her fingers over his forehead and leaned in, kissing him gently on the lips. She pulled back as her tears fell on his face. "Oh Zach…" she whispered.

* * *

"… and then she screamed at Erica and took off. I found her in an empty room. Bianca, I'm worried about her. She seems so alone and… no, putting her in Erica's general vicinity would end in an explosion right now, I promise you that… I don't see how it could hurt, but… Bianca, I don't know if she would want me to… I know… Bianca, I know… it's just that I'm not exactly her favorite… Ok, I give. I owe you that much at least. Just call me when you know your flight info and I'll keep my eye on Kendall. Yeah, alright, I'll talk to you later."

Babe snapped her phone shut and dropped into one of the waiting room chairs. Retelling the story to Bianca had been draining. Bianca hadn't heard word one about this yet. Babe ran her hand through her hair. She leaned back and closed her eyes, hoping to gain a few moments of peace before going back to Zach's room.

He watched her from across the waiting room, waiting for his moment. This had played out perfectly and, for once, he had nothing to do with it. He smiled to himself before wiping the smirk off his face and walking over to Babe.

"Hey Babe" he said, plopping down next to her.

Babe cracked open her eye to see Josh sitting next to her. "Hi Josh."

He looked nervous – she caught that immediately. "What's going on, Josh?"

"It's just… I really shouldn't say anything but… well, I thought I saw you with Kendall earlier and…"

"Yeah, she's in with Zach. I'm assuming you heard?"

"You could say that. Look, I kind of need to talk to her."

"About what?" Babe asked, looking at him skeptically. Josh took a deep breath before launching into his story. As he wove his tale, Babe's eyes got larger and larger.

"… and I thought she should know."

Babe shot out of her chair. "Absolutely. I'll go get Kendall. Meet us in the sun room in 5."

* * *

Babe pushed open the door slowly and peeked in. Kendall was sitting on the edge of Zach's bed, just staring at him.

"Kendall" she said from the doorway. Kendall turned and looked at her. Babe waved her to come out of the room. Kendall sighed and kissed Zach on the head before heading out of the room.

"What?" she demanded as the door shut, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Kendall, Josh Madden is here. He told me… well, he needs to tell you something and you really need to hear it. He's down in the sun room."

"Babe, I really don't want to leave…"

"Kendall, please. It won't take long and you really, really, really need to hear what he's got to say."

Kendall looked back at the door and sighed. "Fine, but the two of you have 10 minutes."

* * *

Josh stood up as the two women entered the now deserted sun room. Kendall glared at him as she took a seat across from him. Babe leaned back against the wall and motioned for Josh to sit back down.

"Babe said you've got something to tell me."

This was Josh's first real face to face encounter with Kendall, but he knew she was a spitfire, much like her mother. "Look, Kendall, I'm not trying to upset you anymore or anything, but I just thought that…"

"Out with it Josh. I need to get back to Zach."

"Right. Ok. So, I was with your mother at the casino today, working on the show. We were talking about the next interview when she saw Zach walk past. I swear, Kendall, it was like something inside her snapped. She told me she would be right back and took off. I followed her, trying to figure out what was wrong. By the time I caught up with them, she had him cornered. The knife was already in her hand and he was back up against the wall. I could tell he was trying to calm her down, but she was… well, it seemed she was a little crazy in that moment. Zach made a move to get the knife from her, but she lunged and… Kendall, I ran in there immediately. Zach was lying on the floor and Erica was just staring at him, like she was in shock or something. I pulled my cell phone out and called 911. She tried to stop me, but…"

Kendall's face was like stone. Babe could feel the anger and hate radiating off of her from across the room. "She tried to stop you?" Kendall spit out, doing her best to take in everything Josh was telling her.

"Well, not like threatening me or anything. She asked me what in the world I thought I was doing and I said trying to save Zach's life and…"

Kendall held up her hand. "Stop. I don't need to hear anymore." Kendall pushed herself out of the chair and made a beeline for the emergency room. Josh looked over at Babe, who shrugged. They immediately followed.

By the time they caught up to Kendall, she had cornered Derek Frye.

"Kendall, Jackson said that it was a pure accident. Joe Martin said Zach was going to be fine, so…"

Kendall whirled around and glared at Josh. She pointed at him. "Derek, I've got an eyewitness who will beg to differ." She motioned for Josh to come over. "Tell Derek what you just told me."

Josh looked at Kendall. "Kendall, are you sure that you want me to…"

"DO IT!" she yelled at him. Josh launched into his story again while Derek took notes. "That's all?" he asked when Josh finished the story.

"Yeah, that's all."

"I want Erica Kane arrested for the attempted murder of Zach Slater, Derek, and I want it done now." Kendall didn't even wait for Derek's response. She whirled around on her heel and headed back to Zach's room.

Kendall wasn't around to see Derek arrest Erica, but Babe and Josh were. Erica and Jackson appeared not long after Kendall had headed back to Zach's room. Erica was speechless when Derek started to read her her rights. Jackson tried to explain to Derek what a mistake he was making, but Derek merely told him that they had an eyewitness that tells a different story. Derek took Erica away in handcuffs as Babe called Bianca again to let her know what had just happened and as Josh just smiled at the way this had suddenly worked out.

While her mother was being arrested, Kendall had gone back to Zach's room. She took off her coat and pulled a chair up next to his bed. She sat down in the chair and grabbed his hand, wrapping both of her hands around his. She placed a light kiss on the top of his hand and laid her head down on the bed, willing him with all her might and energy to make a speedy recovery.

TBC….


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **see chapter 1

* * *

The first thing he noticed was that he felt sore from the tips of his toes to the hair on his head. He cracked his eyes open and noticed that he wasn't at home or at Kendall's. His throat felt dry and he needed water more than anything. He tried to move his arm to reach the glass sitting on the table, but found he couldn't move his arm. He looked down to see Kendall, asleep with her head on top of his hand.

He shifted slightly and reached his free hand over to rub the top of her head, trying to wake her up.

"Kendall" he whispered. He felt her start to move. She shifted around for a few moments before lifting her head off the bed and look at him.

Seeing his eyes open woke her right up. "Zach" she yelled, shooting out of her chair. She ran her hands over his face and through his hair, smiling at him.

"Water" he said hoarsely. Kendall reached over and held the straw up to his mouth. Zach took a nice, long drink before he pushed the straw out of his mouth. Kendall put the plastic glass down on the table and sat back down in her chair, grasping his hand.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Like a Mack truck hit me. Now, my turn – did you sleep in that chair all night?"

"Well, yeah. I didn't want to leave you and…"

Zach groaned and pushed himself up in the bed. "Kendall, you can't be doing that. It's not good for you and it's not…"

He saw the tears forming in her eyes and he mentally chastised himself for laying into her the minute he woke up. He smiled at her and reached his arm out. She immediately crawled up into the bed with him and molded herself to his side.

"I'm fine" he said, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. The tears started to fall – he could feel them through the hospital gown. He held her while she cried, not saying anything. He knew she just needed to be held.

Once her tears subsided, she looked up at him. "Zach, I was so scared that…"

"Kendall, it's going to take a lot more than a little knife wound to take me down."

She pushed herself up and stared at him. "Little! Zach, Anita and Joe talked to me about transfusions and blood loss and… well, there was a lot to take in and… I don't know what I would have done if… I'm so sorry we fought." She was wiping the tears away from her eyes when he grabbed her hand.

"I'm sorry too, my love. I trust you completely, I do. There are others that I don't trust and can't control and that scares me."

They smiled at each other for a moment before he yanked on her arm and pulled her down for a kiss. Kendall wound her fingers through his hair, relishing in the kiss and thanking God that she got to do this over and over again.

They broke apart after a few minutes and Kendall snuggled back into Zach's side. She looked up at him and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I'm going to talk to Dr. Madden today, Zach."

"Why? Are you feeling…"

"I'm feeling fine, but this whole no sex thing… well, it's just not going to work for me anymore and I need to let him know that."

"Kendall, please, don't do anything that may jeopardize the baby or your health…"

She leaned into him more and started to rub his chest. "Zach, I won't, but… I need you. I almost lost you last night and if I had and we hadn't…"

The look in her eyes was almost too much for him to bare – it was a mixture of love and desire for him. He crushed his lips to hers and plundered her mouth with his tongue. She moaned and sunk into the kiss. They became consumed with each other – so consumed that they didn't realize they had an audience until they heard a loud cough from the doorway. They pried themselves apart and saw Joe and Anita standing there, smiling at them.

"I guess your feeling better this morning, Zach" Anita said, smirking. Kendall slid out of bed and stood next to Zach.

"Much better, thank you very much" he said, clearing his throat.

Joe walked over and pulled Zach's chart off the end of the bed. "Well, it looks like everything seems to be fine. I want to check you over and do a couple more tests, but there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to go home today."

Kendall just stared at Joe. "Joe, are you sure? I mean, this just happened and what if…"

Joe smiled at the young woman. "Kendall, that's why we need to do a few more things. I promise we won't let him go till he's fully ready."

She sighed and looked back down at Zach. "Ok then."

"Kendall, why don't you go get some food and water while they do this?"

"No way, Zach, I'm staying put."

"Kendall…" Before he could fight with her over this, Anita piped up. "Oh, Kendall, I almost forgot. Babe Carey is out in the waiting room looking for you."

Zach looked up at Kendall. "Babe? Why is Babe…"

Kendall held up her hand. "It's a long story that I'll tell you later." She just stared at Zach, trying to decide what to do. He made the decision for her. "Go. I'll be fine and then when you come back, maybe we can get the hell out of this hospital and stay away for, oh, ever!" Kendall smiled at him and nodded. She kissed his forehead and made her way out of the room, looking back one more time before letting the door close.

* * *

Babe stood up as Kendall walked through the doors into the waiting room. Kendall looked at her skeptically before making her way over.

"How's Zach doing?"

"Great, actually. Joe thinks I'll get to take him home this afternoon."

"Oh Kendall, that's… well, that's just great." They just stared at each other for a minute before Babe remembered the bags in her hands.

"Oh yeah… Simone and I went to your condo this morning. We thought you might want a change of clothes and I had Winnie pack you some food. I thought you might be hungry."

"Oh, thanks Babe, but you didn't have to. I'll be fine, so you can…"

"Bianca asked me to." Kendall just stopped and stared at Babe. "Wait, Bianca did what?"

Babe sighed. "When I was talking to Bianca last night, she asked me to keep an eye on you until she got here, which will be tonight, by the way. I told her I was worried about you and… well, she said that I owed her and that I needed to do this for her. So, that's what I'm doing. You'll be rid of me soon enough, so please just take this stuff. I'm not expecting a thank you, so don't worry about it." Babe held out the bags for Kendall to take. Kendall was shocked that her sister had asked Babe, of all people, to look out for her, but she knew that Babe was one of the few people in this town who had no opinion about Zach, so it made a little sense.

Kendall forced a smile and took the bags from her. "Thanks, Babe."

Babe shifted uncomfortably. "It was no problem. I grabbed some soap and shampoo. I saw Jamie and he said you could use the locker rooms to get changed and take a quick shower if you want."

Kendall could appreciate the kindness. "Thanks. Um… so, what's in the food bag?"

Babe smiled. She figured Kendall would be starving. "Well, there's a container of yogurt, a banana, a muffin and Momma made you a thermos of her hot chocolate. She used to make if for me while I was pregnant with Little A."

"Well, tell Krystal thanks. I'm going to go…" Kendall motioned toward the door leading to the doctor's locker rooms. Kendall started to walk away from Babe, but turned around. "Hey Babe?"

Babe, who had been heading toward the elevators, turned around. "Yeah."

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, Kendall. What?"

"Well, it's just… can you go back and sit with Zach till I get back?" Babe could see the worry in her eyes.

"Yeah, I can do that. No problem."

Kendall just smiled and turned on her heel, heading toward the locker rooms while Babe headed toward Zach's recovery room.

* * *

Babe waited outside until Joe and Anita left. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door. She heard Zach yell for her to come in, so she did. She noticed he was surprised to see her.

"Babe? Wow… what are you doing here?"

"Well, I brought Kendall some clothes and some food, so she went to change. She asked me to come sit with you until she got back, but I can just wait outside if you would rather…"

"No, it's fine. Please" he said, motioning toward the chair next to the bed. Babe sat down gingerly, unsure of what to do.

"So… umm… how are you feeling?"

"Good, all things considering."

"Well, that's great. I'm glad you're better. I was worried about Kendall last night."

Zach sat up straighter in bed, staring at Babe. He knew there was something else going on. "Babe, you have to tell me what happened last night."

"Oh, no, I think that Kendall should…"

"Babe, please. I have to know. What happened when she got here last night?"

"Well…" Babe launched into the story, telling him about finding Kendall in the chapel, the run in with Erica and her confession, meeting up with Josh to hear his story and Kendall having Derek arrest Erica immediately. Zach was blown away. "But that's not…"

Babe was confused. "That's not what? Zach?"

Zach stared off into space, the wheels turning in his head. "Zach?" Babe's voice brought him back to reality. "Oh, oh, it's nothing. Nevermind. So, how's your little guy?"

* * *

Kendall emerged from the locker room, feeling refreshed and ready to face the day. Anita had come in while she was getting dressed to let her know that Zach would be ready to be discharged in about an hour. After getting dressed, Kendall took a minute to eat the food Babe had brought her. She hadn't realized how hungry she was till she took a bite of the muffin. She quickly finished the muffin, yogurt and banana before taking a drink of the hot chocolate, which Kendall had to admit to being pretty good, not that she would ever tell Babe or Krystal that.

Kendall pulled the bags up on her shoulder and headed back toward Zach's room when she heard her name from behind her. Kendall turned around and immediately made a face as Ryan came walking toward her.

Kendall held out her hand, pointing at him. "Oh no. Hell no. Go away Ryan. I mean it, leave me alone." She tried to walk away, but he ran in front of her and cut off her route. She glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Kendall…"

"Don't start with me Ryan. I'm not in the mood."

"How's Zach?"

"He's going to be fine. Why – hoping for a different answer? Hoping that he dropped dead over night. Well, guess not, so if you don't mind…" she tried to walk around him, to no avail.

Ryan grabbed her shoulders. "Kendall, look, I went to the jail first thing this morning to see Erica and she said that…"

Kendall pulled back out of his grasp and pushed against him. "Look, Ryan, I'm only going to say this once and I'll use small words so you can follow along. I could care less what Erica has to say. She said it all by stabbing Zach yesterday. Erica Kane can rot in that cell for all I really care." Ryan seemed stunned by her words, so she took her chance to get away from him.

She was halfway down the hall when she heard him yell "Kendall, you can't just cut your mother out of your life!"

"WATCH ME!" she spit out over her shoulder, pushing the doors to the waiting room open.

TBC….


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimers: **see chapter one  
**A/N: **and by request from a Zendallite on another board, a shirtless Zach. Enjoy!

* * *

The sun was starting to set by the time they got back to the casino. Kendall had insisted that he stay at the casino since that was the safest place for the both of them – it would take a lot for someone to get to them there.

After driving back to the condos to grab some clothes and picking up some pain medication for Zach, the long day was taking a toll on them, not to mention the lack of sleep Kendall got the night before. Kendall dropped their bags next to the door and followed Zach into the bedroom of the suite. They both collapsed on the bed and curled up in each other's arms, immediately falling asleep.

* * *

The knocking on the door woke Kendall up. She turned over and looked at the clock – 10:30. Zach was dead to the world, so Kendall pushed herself off of the bed and headed toward the living room. She pulled the door closed behind her softly and padded over to answer the door.

She barely had the door open before Bianca launched herself at her sister. "Oh my God…" Bianca said into Kendall's shoulder, crying while she tried to talk. Kendall smiled, happy to have her sister here. She tried her best to calm Bianca down, but realized quickly that it was a futile attempt, so she just let her sister cry on her shoulder.

Bianca pulled back when the tears stopped running. "Sorry" she said, half laughing, wiping the tears off her face. Kendall just smiled and pulled her sister into the room and shut the door.

Bianca sat down on the couch and Kendall sat next to her. "So, how is he?"

Kendall looked at the bedroom door and smiled. "Out like a light. Joe gave him some pills before we left the hospital – I think they knocked him out."

Bianca took a deep breath and grabbed Kendall's hand. "Look, Kendall, I've already been to see Mom and…"

Kendall shot off the couch. "Uh-uh, no way. Bianca, I love you and I'm so glad you are here, but… well, I'm not real interested in what Erica has to say right now." Bianca shook her head. 'She's gone back to calling her Erica' Bianca thought to herself. It had been awhile since Kendall had referred to their mother by her first name.

Kendall pulled the room service menu out of the desk and looked at it. "Are you hungry" she asked Bianca. "I haven't eaten since this morning and I am starving."

"Yeah, I could go for a sandwich or something."

"Great. Let me go wake Zach up and see if he wants anything." Kendall headed toward the bedroom. She slipped in the door and saw that the bed was empty, but that the light was on in the bathroom. Kendall walked over and stopped dead in her tracks as she looked into the bathroom.

She was struggling to remember how to breathe as she looked at him standing there in track pants, shirtless. He was leaned over the sink, washing his face. She could feel her face flush as she watched the muscles in his back move as he ran his hands over his face.

"Enjoying the show?" he asked as he ran a towel over his face.

"You have no idea" she responded, walking up behind him and running her hands up his back and over his shoulders. He turned around and pulled her flush to his body as she ran her hands over his chest and arms, loving the feel of his muscles tensing under her touch.

"Bianca's here" she whispered to him.

"She's going to have to wait a minute" he growled, attaching his lips to hers. Kendall was a second and a half away from molesting him on the floor of the bathroom when he pulled back.

"That's it. Madden is seeing me tomorrow. We need to talk!"

He scowled at Kendall. "Kendall, please, just…"

She just shook her head and slapped him on the ass before walking out of the bathroom. "I'm ordering food. You better come tell me what you want before I order you some, as you like to call it, 'girl food'. Zach cursed under his breath and grabbed a t-shirt of his bag before heading into the living room.

* * *

Zach came out of the bedroom the next morning as Kendall was putting on her coat.

"Where are you going?"

She made a face at him. "I told you. I called Madden first thing this morning and told me he needed to see me ASAP! I have to be there in 20 minutes."

"Kendall, we need to talk. You need to know…" Kendall smirked at Zach and walked over. She grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him for all she was worth. "I'll be back in a few hours and we can talk then."

There was a knock on the door. Kendall opened it to Bianca. "Back so soon, Binks. Well, you've got great timing. Stay with Zach till I get back." She pulled Bianca in for a hug and quickly blew out of the room. She looked back over her shoulder and blew Zach a kiss off of her palm. "See you two later!"

"Dammit" he muttered, collapsing into a chair.

"Zach, what the hell is going on?"

He motioned for Bianca to sit down. "Why?"

"Well… I guess… ok, I'm just going to say it. I'm trying to figure out why Kendall had Mom arrested the other night. I've talked to her and Jackson and…"

"I know, I know. I've been trying to figure it out since I talked to Babe at the hospital yesterday."

"Wait, wait, wait. You mean that…" Zach just nodded. "Zach! You've got to do something!"

Zach leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes. "I know, Bianca, I know. I'm just trying to get some stuff figured out."

Bianca leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. "Spill it Slater." Zach launched into his story and Bianca was in disbelief at what she was hearing. "Oh God, Zach, this is… this is huge. We need to fix this."

"I know, but what I can't piece together is why…" Bianca waited for him to continue. "Zach?" He shot off the couch and grabbed his jacket.

"C'mon. You need to take me to see Babe Carey. We need to talk to her now!" Bianca nodded and shot off her chair, following Zach out of the suite.

* * *

Across town, Dr. Madden had just finished his exam of Kendall. "Well?" she asked.

"Everything seems fine, Kendall."

"That's what I wanted to hear. So I can go back to a…. normal life now?"

Greg just looked at her. "Kendall, I'm not sure…"

"Did you hear what happened at the casino two days ago?"

"Yes, I did. How is Zach doing?"

"Dr. Madden, he's fine. But, he wasn't for awhile and… if I had lost him and never got the chance to… I just love him so much and he's been so patient, so kind, so giving that he deserves… and Lord knows I need…" Greg held up his hand, seeing where she was going.

"Well, you seem to be out of the woods, Kendall. No episodes recently, the baby is growing the way he should be. I don't see any reason why you and Mr. Slater couldn't…" Kendall jumped off the table and hugged him. "My only recommendation is nothing… too wild. Catch my drift?"

"Absolutely, doc. Thanks again!"

Greg just smiled as he walked out of the room.

* * *

Kendall was about to get in her car when her phone rang from insider her purse. She dug it out.

"Hello?"

"Kendall, it's Livia. I'm glad I caught you. I thought you would want to know that Erica's pre-trial hearing is tomorrow. The DA was wondering if you wanted to testify as to what you were told about the stabbing."

"Absolutely. What time do I need to be there?"

"Well, the DA wants to go over a few things with you. The hearing is at 9:30, so be at the courthouse by 9. Do you want me to meet you?"

"I should be alright, but better to be safe than sorry."

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow."

Kendall snapped her phone shut and dropped it back into her purse.

* * *

Babe was working her way through the Fusion reports that had seemed to multiply on her desk over the last 24 hours when she heard the elevator doors open. She turned to see Bianca and Zach getting off the elevator.

"Zach? What are you doing here? Should you even be out of bed?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to…" he collapsed into the chair in front of Kendall's desk, breathing heavily.

"I told you not to run up those steps" Bianca yelled at him, grabbing a bottle of water for him out of the refrigerator. Zach glared at her over the top of the water bottle.

Babe looked back and forth between Zach and Bianca. "Someone want to clue me in?"

He pointed at Bianca. "Tell her what you told me in the hospital yesterday. About Kendall's version of events. Or should I say Josh's version of events."

"Zach, I'm not sure what you mean about…"

"Just tell her."

Bianca sat down as Babe launched into the story that Josh had told her and Kendall in the hospital. As Babe finished, Bianca just stared at Zach. "But that's not…"

"I know." He stood up and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "I need to make a call."

Babe was utterly confused. "Bianca, what is going on?"

Bianca launched into her story and watched Babe go from confused to outraged to indignant. "But, why would he… and to get Kendall all riled up like that. Why would Josh do that?"

"I don't know, but I'd imagine that…" Bianca stopped as her phone rang. She reached into her purse and pulled it out.

"Hello?"

Babe watched as Bianca hung her head, listening to the person on the other end of the phone. "Ok, thanks Uncle Jack." Zach came back in the room. "Well, I've got some people running down a couple of hunches…"

"Well, they better hurry. Mom's pre-trial hearing is tomorrow and the DA just told Uncle Jack that Kendall is testifying against Mom."

Zach cursed under his breath. "Ok, we've got to get this figured out and fast."

TBC…..


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **see chapter 1

* * *

She was asleep by the time he got back to the suite that night. He and Bianca had holed up in his office, trying to figure all of this out. They were at a standstill till they found a reporter who would do anything for a quick buck. For the right amount of money, he told them the whole story. He had planned to tell Kendall the whole story as soon as he got back to the suite, but she was asleep and looked beautiful and peaceful, he let her sleep, thinking he could tell her in the morning. What he found when he woke up was her side of the bed empty and a note on the bathroom mirror, telling him to sleep in and she would be back in time for lunch. He cursed himself and quickly got dressed.

* * *

Bianca found her coming out of one of the conference rooms with the DA. She nodded at her sister and shook the DA's hand. He walked away and Bianca made a beeline for Kendall.

"So, you're really going to do it? You're going to testify against our mother?" Bianca was stunned that it had come to this.

Kendall pulled her sister over to a bench. "Binks, I know that you believe in this whole happy family thing, that we all should be able to put our difference aside in the name of the family, but Erica has made it very clear that she will never accept Zach. She left me no choice – she made me choose and I choose the one person that believes in me, supports me no matter what, loves me for who I am, not who he wants me to be. Erica has never been able to do that for me. I've come to terms with it, Bianca, I really have. I love you, Binks – you're my sister and my best friend, but forgiving Erica for trying to kill Zach isn't an option for me right now. I don't know if it will ever be."

Kendall saw the DA stick his head out and wave her into the courtroom. Kendall hugged Bianca quickly and stood up. "I'll talk to you later, Binks." With that, Kendall was gone.

Bianca knew that this was wrong. She was about to head into the courtroom when Zach came running around the corner. "It's about time!" she yelled at him.

"Sorry. Kendall, in her infinite wisdom, turned off the alarm this morning. She was gone by the time I woke up. Where is she?" Bianca just pointed toward the courtroom. He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the proceedings.

The courtroom was packed. Jackson, Ryan, Josh and most of the town filled Erica's side of the courtroom. The reporters and other media were sitting behind the DA's table. They looked up to see Kendall in the middle of her testimony.

"… then, an eyewitness came forward to myself and Babe Carey to tell us about what had happened at the casino that day."

"And what did that eye witness tell you, Ms. Hart?"

"He said that Erica had snapped and stabbed Zach on purpose, that she was trying to hurt him." The DA smirked at Erica and turned back to Kendall. "Thank you Ms. Hart." Kendall turned toward the judge, who waved her off the stand.

"Do you have any other witnesses?"

"No your honor."

Jackson turned around to see Bianca and Zach standing at the back of the courtroom. "Approach your honor?" he yelled, shooting out of his chair. Jackson and DA approached the judge. Bianca had called him the night before, but she wasn't sure when she called if Zach was going to be able to get through to Kendall. The judge nodded and sent Jackson and the DA back to their tables.

"Mr. Montgomery."

"Your honor, I would like to call Zach Slater to the stand."

Kendall hadn't seen him come in and whirled around in her chair, staring at him walking down the aisle. He pushed open the door and smiled down at her. He kissed her lightly on the top of the head. "Everything is going to be fine" he whispered to her before proceeding to the stand.

Zach was quickly sworn in. Jackson approached him and stood there, staring at him. "Mr. Slater, I have been informed that you have something to add to these proceedings." Zach nodded. "Well, go ahead then."

Zach could feel Kendall's eyes on him, boring through his skull. He cleared his throat and stared straight ahead. "Three days ago, Ms. Kane and her production crew were at my casino filming some segments for her show, New Beginnings. Now, most everyone knows that Ms. Kane and I have a contemptuous relationship at best, but we were trying for the sake of her daughter, Kendall Hart…"

"Who you are involved with" Jackson stated.

"Yes. That afternoon, I was working the floor and had walked into a back room where there had been a spill – several bottles of water and liquid soap had tumbled off a shelf and we were waiting for the janitorial crew to come clean it up. I had left a message with Ms. Kane earlier in the day that I would like to speak with her when she a moment and she just happened to take that moment to find me. She followed me into the room, not paying attention to where she was walking. She slipped in the liquid and fell, all of the contents of her purse falling onto the floor. I bent down and picked up a pocket knife, along with her wallet and other items, that had fallen out. It caught my eye because of the unusual carvings it had on the handle. So, I asked her about it. She took it from me and flipped it open as she stood up, explaining that you, Mr. Montgomery, had given it to her for extra protection. She was showing me the carvings on the blade as well. Without thinking, I took a step toward her to return the contents of her purse to her when I slipped as well, falling forward toward her. She instinctively reached her arms out, forgetting the open knife was in her hand and…"

"That was how you got stabbed?" Jackson asked.

"Yes, yes it was."

"Well, Ms. Hart just testified to a very different story. Are you saying she lied to the court under oath?"

Zach finally got the nerve to look at her. The hurt and disbelief on her face was unbearable. All he wanted to do was go over there and wrap her up in his arms and try to make her understand, but he knew that he was the only one that could stop all of this from happening and that it needed to be stopped now.

"No, Mr. Montgomery, she wasn't lying. Ms. Hart was lied to. According to a source I tracked down yesterday, Ms. Hart was approached in the hospital by someone looking to profit from the accident, so that person lied to Kendall convincingly, telling her a skewed version of events."

"And that person was…"

"Josh Madden, Erica Kane's executive producer."

Jackson turned and glared at Josh, who looked shell shocked. Jackson quickly turned back to Zach. "And why did Josh Madden lie to Kendall Hart about the stabbing."

"Well, I'm not sure about all the details, Mr. Montgomery. You will have to ask Mr. Madden to find out for sure, but from what I've been able to find out Mr. Madden has been working to humiliate Ms. Kane since the moment she hired him. He has done several things, including canceling appearances and erasing tapes, to make it look like Erica is incapable and needs to be replaced by, and I can only assume this, him."

Jackson nodded at Zach, silently thanking him for his help. Jackson looked up at the judge. "I have nothing else your honor." The courtroom was silent as Jackson walked back to his chair. Erica smiled at Zach, also thanking him.

Zach looked up at the judge. "Mr. Slater, I appreciate you setting the record straight. In lieu of these new facts, I am going to dismiss the charges against Erica Kane. Ms. Kane, you are free to go. Oh, and Mr. Madden, please do stick around. I'm sure the DA and Derek Frye would like to have a few words with you." With that, the judge banged her gavel and headed back toward her chambers.

Zach got out of the chair and started across the courtroom. Kendall hadn't moved. When he said she had been lied to, she dropped her head and started at her hands in her lap. Bianca and Babe were trying to talk to her right now, but all she kept doing was shaking her head. He knew he needed to get to her, to make her understand why he had to do this.

Zach felt a tug on his arm and turned to see Erica. She took a deep breath. "Zach, look… ok, I know I've been… let's just say less than civil… to you recently and you had no reason to come in here and save me today, but you did and that says a lot. I am truly thankful and you have my gratitude."

"Erica, it needed to be done and I was the only one that could do it."

She grasped his hand and squeezed. "And I am willing to try, I mean really try, with you. I can see that you really do care about Kendall and I know she loves you. I just wasn't ready to admit that to myself."

Zach leaned down and kissed Erica on the cheek. "Thank you. I would like that. But, right now, I need to…" Erica just nodded and released his hand.

Zach turned back toward Kendall. He knew she was crying, that she was confused and hurt at what had just happened. He walked over and crouched down in front of her, putting his hands on her knees.

"Kendall…" She shook her head, refusing to look at him.

"Kendall, please, just…"

"How could you?" she said, barely in a whisper. She looked up at him and the look on her face broke his heart.

"Kendall, if you would just…"

"You made a fool out of me, Zach. You let everyone know that I'm a dupe, that I'm the go to girl when you are looking to set up Erica because I will buy just about anything. You don't…" the tears started falling down her face. He tried to wipe them away, put she pushed against his hands roughly. "You don't get to make me feel like that. You say you love me, that you support me and my decision, but then you…"

"Kendall, it wasn't like that. Josh was out to destroy your mother and you and the rest of your family. He needed to be stopped. You just happened to…"

The anger burst through the top and she shot out of her chair, pushing him back in the process. "I what, Zach… yeah, got made a fool of. HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!" She turned on her heel and ran out of the courtroom. All Zach could do was watch her go, knowing he had caused her pain again. Bianca, Babe, Jackson, and Erica came up to him, so no one saw Ryan slink out of the courtroom and follow Kendall.

TBC….


	6. Chapter 6

**BRING ON THE ZEX! Disclaimers in chapter 1**

* * *

"SON OF A BITCH" she screamed as she threw her purse across the living room. She hadn't been to the condo since the night of the stabbing… or the accident, as it was now proven. She needed to get away after Zach had testified for Erica and, out of habit, she came here.

"How could he do this to me?" she cried to the walls as she collapsed on her couch, tears streaming down her face. Sure, she had been betrayed in the past, pushed aside for others, but Zach was the one person in her life who always put her first, always put her needs above her own. It broke her heart to listen to him defending Erica after all the hateful things she had said to Zach, all the hateful things she had said to Kendall about Zach. She curled up on the couch and buried her head in one of the pillows.

Not long after that, she felt a pair of arms go around her. She let these arms comfort her while she cried. Once her tears subsided, she got the energy to pull her head out of the pillow. As she looked up, she expected warm, loving dark brown eyes to be staring back at her, but she was shocked when she focused on blue ones.

"OH MY GOD!" she screamed, scrambling off the couch. She bolted across the room, breathing hard. "Jesus, Ryan, what the HELL are you doing here?"

He stood up and started to walk toward her, but she held up her hand, stopping him in his tracks. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "I saw you leave the courthouse upset and I thought that…"

"You thought what?"

"Well, I thought you might need a shoulder to cry on."

Kendall started to laugh. "Oh… my… God… you CAN'T be serious, right? Seriously, what are you doing here? Zach just saved your precious Erica – I figured you'd be kissing his ass right about now."

"But he hurt you."

"And since when do you give one rat's ASS about my feelings!" The anger had bubbled to the top and the more he kept talking, the more fuel he added to the fire.

Ryan walked over and grabbed her arms. "Kendall, of course I care. He hurt you, just like I said he would. Him siding with Erica must feel like the ultimate betrayal, especially after you sided with him, no questions asked. Kendall, I have tried to warn you over and over and over again about Alex Jr, but maybe now you will really see…"

"LET GO OF ME" she screamed as she yanked her right arm free and slapped him across the face for all she was worth. Ryan released her as her hand made contact with his face. She took a couple of steps back, shaking as he slowly turned toward her. When his eyes met her, she could see the anger and hate boiling inside of him.

Ryan quickly cornered her and grabbed her arms, pulling her flush against his body and shaking her violently. "What the hell is wrong with you? Can't you see I'm trying to put my family back together? Are you really so stupid as to still care for… THAT MAN after he betrayed you!"

"Oh SPARE ME Ryan" she spit back at him. "I do believe you went and married my BEST FRIEND just to get back at me. Talk about betrayal!"

Ryan pulled his right arm back and Kendall braced herself. "Why you stupid little…" But instead of feeling a hit, Kendall was suddenly on the floor. Kendall felt a pair of arms around her shoulder and looked up to see her sister sitting with her, tears in her eyes. They both looked toward the door.

"BRING IT ON LAVERY! WHAT… YOU CAN BEAT UP DEFENSELESS WOMEN BUT YOU WON'T TRY TO TAKE ON SOMEONE WHO COULD ACTUALLY PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE!" Zach's voice seemed to shake the walls of the condo. He had thrown Ryan into the wall and was waiting for him to get back up. Ryan slowly pulled himself off the floor and Zach quickly wrapped his hand around Ryan's throat, forcing him out the door. When they got to the threshold, Zach threw him out the door.

"If you EVER come near her again, believe me when I tell you that they will NEVER find your body!" Zach slammed the door shut and leaned against it, regaining his breath and trying to calm his nerves.

He heard Bianca say his name and he quickly turned around, all the anger washing away when he saw Kendall staring at him. She had curled up in the corner, arms wrapped around her body. Bianca pulled back as Zach made his way over to her. Without saying a word, he scooped her up in his arms, holding her as closely as he could.

"I'm going to make us some tea" he heard Bianca say as he walked toward her bedroom. He could feel her shaking in his arms and it broke his heart. He felt guilty – he should have never let her leave alone.

He kicked the door closed and sat down on the bed. He scooted back till he was propped up against the headboard. Kendall curled up in his lap and buried her head in his shoulder. He held her for what seemed like an eternity, until she stopped shaking and her breathing had returned to normal.

"You saved me." He almost missed her saying those words, since she spoke so lightly. "Always and forever" he replied, dropping a kiss on top of her head.

She finally pulled her head off his shoulder and looked up at him. "But why did you defend Erica? She hurt you."

He sighed and ran his fingers over her face, brushing the hair out of her eyes. "Kendall, Josh had to be stopped. I don't know all his reasons, but I do know that he hated Erica and her family. He had to be stopped before he decided that coming after Erica wasn't enough. I needed to stop him before he came after you and Bianca and Reggie and Lily. I had to keep you safe, but I still let Lavery come after you yet again. Keeping you from one maniac seemed to send you straight toward another, and I'm sorry for that."

"Oh Zach…" She couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face again. "Zach, I'm sorry I got so mad back at the courthouse. I should have heard you out, let you talk instead of running away.

He smiled at her. "No worries, my love. If there is one thing I love, it's chasing you." She laughed at the absurdity of that comment, but her laughter died as he pulled her face to his for a kiss. She could feel the love radiating through that kiss. She felt safe with him and the kiss just sealed that for her. She sighed as he swiped his tongue across her lips and turned her head, deepening the kiss.

They pulled apart when they heard a knock on the bedroom door. They laughed as Bianca stuck her head in the door, eyes closed.

"You can open your eyes, Binks. Everyone is decent." Kendall laughed as she crawled off of Zach's lap and off the bed. Bianca opened her eyes and ran over to her sister, throwing her arms around Kendall. "Are you alright?" Bianca asked, pulling back and looking over her sister.

Kendall grabbed her chin. "Bianca, I'm fine. But thank God you two got here when you did."

Bianca sighed and smiled. "Well, I've got tea ready if you want it."

Kendall looked back at Zach who slid off the bed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, escorting her out to the living room.

* * *

Zach shut the door behind Bianca and he turned to face Kendall. She had relaxed a lot since the whole Ryan episode and it warmed his heart to see her smiling at him again.

"Come here" she said, holding out her arms. Zach came around the couch and sat down next to her. She pulled herself up into his lap and kissed him on the cheek.

"I want something."

He smiled at her. "Name it. Anything you want."

"I want you to take me away."

"Kendall, are you sure that…."

"Look, Zach, I just… it's just been too much recently. This whole Ryan thing this afternoon was just the icing on the cake. I want some time away from the craziness of Pine Valley. I want it to be just us. It hasn't been just me and you since New Year's. I'm tired of the looks, of having to defend us every time I turn around. I need to get away for just a little while and I want you to make that happen."

He smiled at her. He knew he could never deny her anything. "Well…"

Her ears perked up at this. "What?"

"Well, I've been putting off a trip to Vegas because of everything that has been going on. I didn't want to leave you here by yourself, unprotected. But…"

She pulled herself closer to him. "Let's go. Let's go tomorrow."

He threw his head back and laughed. "Why not? I'll make all the arrangements tomorrow and we will leave tomorrow night. Is that soon enough for you?"

She smirked at him. "Well, I would prefer to go right now, but I guess tomorrow night will be fine." She caught him stifling a yawn. "You tired?"

He ran his fingers through her hair. "A bit. It's been a long couple of days."

"But, are you feeling alright? You aren't in any pain or anything, are you?"

He loved her concern. "I'm fine. Just a little drained."

She wagged her eyebrows at him. "I hope not too much."

"What?"

She shot off the couch. "Nothing. I say we go to bed. I'm going to go brush my teeth and what-not. Will you…" she asked, waving her hand around the living room. Zach nodded and she turned and headed toward the bathroom. Zach pulled himself off the couch and turned out all the lights, taking one good look around outside before he locked the door.

* * *

He flipped on her small table lamp and pulled back the covers when he felt her presence behind him. He turned to say something to her, but stopped when he saw her. She stood there, leaning against the door jam in nothing but a dark red negligee, one strap hanging off her shoulder.

She smiled at him. The look on his face was priceless – eyes bulging out of his head, mouth hanging open. "So, by the look on your face, I'm going to assume that you approve of this new purchase I made yesterday" she said, sauntering over to him. She ran her hand down his chest as he ran his eyes up and down her body.

"Kendall…" he choked out. "What… I'm not…"

She leaned into him, winding her hands around his neck. "Oh, did I not tell you? I'm sorry. Well, I had a visit with Dr. Madden a couple of days ago. We had a nice, looong chat about… well, our current situation. He checked over every thing and well… it would seem that things are progressing nicely and that I could resume a normal life, so to speak."

"Normal?" he squeaked out.

"Yeah, normal in every sense of the word. In fact, he said that as long as we didn't do anything too… wild that there was no reason why would couldn't…."

Her words were lost as he crushed his mouth against hers. The brute force of the kiss made her knees buckle. He wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up off the floor. He carried her a couple of steps and laid her out on the bed, leaning over her.

"Kendall, are you sure that…" She pushed herself up on her hands and silenced him with a soul-searing kiss. She quickly pushed against his chest, forcing him to stand up. She slid off the bed and stood in front of him.

"Zach, I am more than sure. Now, you are wearing too many clothes." Zach couldn't put a coherent thought together in his head as she started to open the buttons on his shirt, never breaking eye contact with him. As she freed the last button, she reached up and pushed the shirt off his shoulders and down his arms. She smirked at him and placed a hot, open-mouthed kiss in the middle of his chest.

"Oh my god…" he growled out, slamming his eyes shut as she ran her hands around his waist and started to work open his pants. She slowly lowered the zipper and he felt the pants and boxers fall from his hips. He quickly step out of them and kicked them aside, pulling her flush against his body.

The feel of him against her was almost too much for her to bear. He was making her head spin and they hadn't done anything yet.

"You're a vixen sent here to try to kill me" he growled into her ear, sucking her lobe into his mouth. She moaned loudly, unable to do anything more. He turned them and fell back onto the bed, Kendall lying on top of him.

They were frantic in their need for each other from the moment they hit the bed. Kendall pushed herself off of him, resting on her legs. He pushed himself up to her and pulled her flush to his chest, leaving a trail of kisses down her neck. He pulled his lips of her neck and looked at her. She smiled down at him and he thought he was going to explode.

"Screw it" he said, grabbing the bottom of the negligee and yanking it over her head. She barely recovered before he began kissing her breasts. "Oh my God…Zach!" she yelled as he pulled her nipple into his mouth. She buried her fingers in his hair, holding his head to her chest. He ripped his mouth off of one breast and quickly attached it to the other, sending her senses into overdrive. Her mind was dizzy and she felt like her skin was on fire.

She moaned loudly and he pulled back, looking at her. She was breathing heavily, desire filling her eyes. "Oh God… Zach… I need…"

"What do you need?" he asked, palming her breasts with both hands. She threw her head back and moaned. "Oh God… Zach, I need you… right… now."

Zach lifted her off his lap, grinning when she tried to protest. He shifted their position slightly and pulled her back down onto him, entering her as she landed back on his lap. The unexpected contact made them both scream the others' name. Kendall grabbed onto Zach's shoulders and moved her hips on top of him. He couldn't take his eyes off of her – the way she had a wisp of a smile on her face as she writhed around on top of him, they way she threw her head back when he moved in a certain way, the way she kept panting his name – he found it all captivating. He could see her reaching her climax – her chest flushed along with her face. When she opened her eyes to look at him as she screamed his name sent him over the edge with her. He pulled her against him and slammed into her a couple more times, spilling into her as she screamed his name one last time.

"Oh my God" she said, giggling as they fell back onto the bed.

"You aren't kidding" he said, closing his eyes, trying to come down from his high. She buried her head in his chest and started to laugh. Zach couldn't help himself – he started to laugh with her. As her laughs subsided, she crawled off of him and propped her head up on his chest.

"Ok, so you want to share what was so funny now?"

She smirked at him. "Well, I was just thinking that you were right."

He opened his eyes and looked at her. "About?"

"That it was going to be worth it. You were totally right about that." He pulled her up to him, kissing her lightly on the lips.

"Well, of course. It was perfect, Kendall, absolutely perfect."

She snuggled against him and he wrapped his arms around her as she shivered. "C'mon, let's get under the covers. We've got a trip to take tomorrow and we could both use the sleep."

Kendall flipped off the lamp as Zach pulled the covers up around them. She turned on her side and Zach wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her back against his chest. He placed a light kiss on her temple and she snuggled back against him. They both immediately fell asleep, feeling completely peaceful for the first time in a long time.

TBC….


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimers: **see chapter 1

* * *

He turned over and cracked one eye open to see her staring back at him, smiling. "What's so amusing this early in the morning?"

Kendall laughed and sat up. "Ok, first of all, 9:30 is not early. Second of all, you were humming in your sleep."

"I was not. You're lying about that" he grumbled as he flipped over on his side, facing away from her.

"Zach, sorry. You were humming. It woke me up" she said as she snuggled against his back, wrapping her arm over his side. "Zach, we need to get up" she whispered in his ear, lightly kissing his earlobe.

"Ten more minutes" he whispered back. They had landed late in Vegas the night before and immediately had to deal with some unexpected high rollers that decided to take an impromptu trip to Vegas. They were just about booked solid, so Kendall and Zach both had to do some finagling and some sweet talking in order to get everything worked out.

Kendall giggled and kissed him on the cheek. "Well, if that's what you want. I was going to see if you wanted to join me in the shower, but if you aren't interested…" His eyes shot open just as she was pulling her nightgown over her head while she walked toward the bathroom. She hit the door and looked over her shoulder. "Coming?" He shot out of bed and chased her into the bathroom.

* * *

"So, we've got those meetings till about 2? Then what?" Kendall asked as she tied Zach's tie. They were finally dressed, after a very long, steamy shower. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she looped the tie together.

"Whatever you want."

She tucked the tie into his jacket and laid her hands on his shoulders. "Anything?" she asked, with a gleam in her eye.

"Just name it."

She smirked at him and shrugged. "Alright. I want to get married."

She thought his eyes were going to fall out of his head when she said the word 'married'. "Zach? Zach, are you alright?" she said, laughing.

"What did you say?" he asked, shaking his head like he hadn't really understood what she said.

Kendall looped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her body, bringing his head down to hers. She leaned into him and whispered "I said I want to get married" in his ear.

He pulled back to look at her, to see if she really meant what she was saying. "Kendall, we don't…"

"Zach Slater, listen up. I want to marry you, that's a fact. And we're here and I don't see any reason why we shouldn't get married sooner rather than later. It doesn't have to be today, but I want to marry you before we go back to Pine Valley. I want us to be a true team when we finally go back. I love you, that's not going to change and I really don't feel like waiting till after the baby is born. Unless of course you don't want to…"

"Oh no, I still want to. I really, really want to marry you, but…"

"But what?"

"Don't you want…"

"Someone here? Who? My recently departed best friend? My new business partner and her boy-toy who used to claim to be my friend? The father of my baby? My lunatic mother? No thanks. I want this to be just us, Zach, just you and me. That's how it's been since New Year's and that's how it's going to be, and I'm fine with that. You and I will start a whole new family – a family without curses and baggage. It's you and it's me and that is all that…"

He silenced her with a kiss, a short but steamy kiss that left very little to the imagination. She was panting as he pulled back and grabbed his cell phone out of his jacket. He smiled at her and flipped it open, dialing quickly.

"Yeah, Joe, it's Slater… yeah, we got in last night… listen, I need to know when the chapel is available this week… Tomorrow night…" Zach looked at Kendall and she nodded. "Great, reserve it… say 8..." Zach smirked. "Hart/Slater… yeah, what can I say, me and the soon-to-be-missus are anything but traditional…. Thanks, oh, the future Mrs. Slater is going to need spa appointments, can you… great, yeah, the works. Thanks, Joe." Zach flipped his phone shut and dropped it back in his pocket. "Tomorrow night work for you, Ms. Hart?"

"Tomorrow night is perfect" she mumbled, assaulting him with her lips.

* * *

Kendall and Ellen, Zach's most senior casino host, spent the next day running around Las Vegas. Since this was a spur of the moment wedding, Kendall lacked the most important thing – the dress. Ellen took Kendall to several stores before she found the perfect dress.

It was an off while strapless floor length empire waist dress with lace inlay and beading down the back. Strapless was important to Kendall since she loved Zach's fascination with her shoulders and the way he would lightly run his fingers over her shoulders as they kissed or talked or did just about anything.

Zach sent dinner to the room. She found the fact that it was lobster, all ready shelled, very amusing. The waiter set the table up and handed her a note – _60 minutes Mrs. Slater_ was all it said, but that's all she needed.

As she slipped her dress over her head and pulled the zipper up, she heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?" she yelled as she looked around for her shoes.

"Kendall, its Joe." Kendall smiled as she headed toward the door. Joe had been with Zach forever and he was the only person Zach trusted to run the Vegas property in his absence. Joe had been to Pine Valley a few times and Kendall loved listening to him and Zach tell stories. He was one of few people that never questioned Zach or his motives, and for that, she really liked him.

She threw open the door and smiled at him as he whistled. "That man is going to keel over when he sees you, Ms. Hart" he said, walking into the room.

"Well, he better wait till after we are married so that my plan to get my hands on all his money has succeeded." Joe just laughed, knowing that the last thing Kendall Hart needed was any of Zach Slater's money.

"Well, Kendall, I was sent here to escort you down to the chapel, if you are ready."

"I can't find my shoes" she said, looking around the room.

Joe looked down at his feet and saw a pair of white heels sitting in the corner. He whistled at her and pointed down. All she could do was laugh.

"Yeah, I've heard pregnant women can go a little crazy."

"You have no idea" she said as she slipped her shoes on. Joe held his arm out to her and opened the door, leading her out toward the elevators.

* * *

"Why am I so nervous?" she asked as they stood outside the chapel doors. She was pacing back and forth. Joe kept peeking in the door to keep an eye out. Joe shut the door and smiled back at her.

"He's ready."

She took a deep breath and sighed. "Ok then."

"Last chance to ditch Slater and run away with me" Joe said, smiling.

"I'm pretty sure your wife would have a problem with that" Kendall replied, smacking him on the shoulder.

"Well, yeah, there's that… Ok, don't move." Joe snuck in the door, but quickly returned with a single white rose. Kendall took it from him and smiled, remembering her condo filled with white roses that afternoon.

Joe kissed her on the cheek and opened the door. "Count to ten then come on in" he said over his shoulder as he disappeared.

Kendall slowly counted to ten and pulled the door open. The music immediately started and the ambiance took her breath away. The room was completely bathed in candlelight. Everywhere she looked there were candles and white roses. She focused on Zach at the end of the aisle. Her heart started beating faster as he came into focus through her tears – he looked wickedly handsome in his charcoal suit. She quickly walked to the end of the aisle, smiling at Ellen and Joe as she did.

He reached out his hand to her, helping her up the small step. He took the rose from her and smiled, grabbing her other hand.

"Dearly beloved, we are here today to celebrate the union of Zachary Slater to Kendall Hart. Love is a precious gift and to find someone who is willing to give their love to you completely and wholly is a special find. The bride and groom would now like to exchange their personal vows. Zach…"

Zach looked down at his shoes and then back up at her, eyes shining. "Kendall, you weren't supposed to happen to me, we both know that. You were the last person I was supposed to find happiness with. Our unhappiness is what drew us to each other, but it seemed that fate had other ideas. I had thought that I had found true and unending love in the past, but I was wrong. What I feel for you is stronger than any other feeling I have had in my life. I would give all that I have to ensure your safety, your security, and your happiness. I will love you till the day I die with no fear, no limit, no end." Hearing those words again after all this time had tears rolling down Kendall's face. He pulled their hands up to her face and wiped them away with his thumbs.

"Kendall…" the minister prodded.

Kendall took a deep breath, trying to get her emotions under control. "I had thought that happiness was something not destined for me. I thought that true and unconditional love was something that I would only read about in books and see in movies. I never would have thought that you would be the man to bring that hope and light back into my life, but I haven't been the same since you did. You have changed me and my life and I could never imagine going back to the old me, how I was before, and I don't think I would want to. I will love you till the day I die, no fear, no limit, no end." She could barely get the words out as the tears spilled down her face. Zach leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"The rings?" Kendall looked up at the minister. "I don't…"

She felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Ellen holding out a wedding band for her. Kendall smiled and took the ring from her, looking at it. It was a plain, platinum band, but made of solid material and felt heavy in her hand. 'The perfect ring for Zach' she thought to herself.

She looked down at the ring in Zach's hand and gasped – it was a beautiful emerald cut diamond with a diamond encrusted platinum band already attached. She looked up and smiled brightly at him.

"Zach, repeat after me… With this ring…"

"With this ring…" he said, pulling her left hand up and placing the ring at the tip of her finger.

"I thee wed."

"I thee wed" he repeated, sliding the ring slowly and seductively down her finger. She felt her face flush.

"Kendall… With this ring…"

"With this ring…"

"I thee wed."

"I thee wed" she said, slowly sliding the ring down his finger. As she put in place, she looked at his hand, loving how the band stood out on his finger.

The minister smiled at both of them. "I'm proud to present Mr. and Mrs. Zach Slater."

Joe and Ellen started to applaud as Zach pulled Kendall flush to him, assaulting her mouth. Without breaking contact, he pulled her up into his arms, carrying her down the aisle. Joe ran ahead of them and threw open the doors. Zach strode out of the chapel and into the casino.

"Have a good night you two" Ellen yelled at them.

People were yelling congratulations to them and clapping as they walked through the casino toward the elevators.

As the elevator doors closed behind him, Zach put her back on the ground. He ran his lips up and down her neck as he caressed her shoulders.

"I love this dress" he growled into her ear. She moaned and ran her fingers through his hair. "I thought you might" she said breathlessly as he ran his hands down her side and around her back.

Kendall saw the elevator was quickly approaching their floor. She pushed him into the corner of the elevator, smiling seductively at him. She leaned into him and ran her hand through his hair and down his cheek to his jawbone. He moaned quietly as she ran her hand over his chest and down to the waistband of his pants. She slipped her hand down the side of his leg and into his pants. As the elevator dinged at their floor, she quickly pulled the keycard out of his pants and stepped away from him.

"Last one naked has to do whatever the other one wants" she said, quickly stepping out of the elevator. It took Zach a moment to realize what she had done. He laughed loudly and stepped out of the elevator, pulling his suit jacket off and quickly undoing his tie.

TBC…


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimers: **see chapter 1

* * *

The elevator dinged and Kendall stepped off, smiling as she walked into the Fusion offices. After having spent a long, sexy, wonderful week in Las Vegas with Zach, she was ready to face Pine Valley and the real world again.

"Good morning ladies. And how are you all this fine, fine morning?" Kendall asked as she dropped her purse on the desk and smiled at Babe, Simone and Danielle.

"Kendall!" they all cried, smiling at her. Kendall gave a quick hug to each of the women before sitting down at her desk.

"So, how was Las Vegas?" Simone asked, smirking.

"Oh, you know, Las Vegas is Las Vegas. We ate some good food, made sure the building was still standing, got married, saw 'O'…"

"WHAT?" they all yelled, turning to stare at her. Kendall smiled widely. "Oh, yeah, I would definitely recommend seeing 'O' if you ever get to Vegas. It was so…"

"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT" Simone screeched, holding her hand up. Kendall bit her tongue to keep from laughing. "Yeah, we were actually wondering about the thing before that… you know, the whole 'got married' thing!"

Kendall just shrugged and pulled open a file, pretending to read it. Babe pulled the file out of her hand and turned Kendall in her chair so she was facing the three of them. "Kendall, you and Zach got remarried?"

Kendall got up out of her chair, ready for whatever fight the three of them wanted to bring on. "Yes we did, and it was perfect. It was just me and him and candlelight and dozens of white roses and the most wonderful words anyone has ever spoken to me. It was right and true and…" She couldn't say more as Babe wrapped her arms around Kendall, giving her a hug.

"Congratulations Mrs. Slater" Babe said, letting Kendall go. Danielle was next in line, attacking Kendall as soon as Babe moved aside. Danni moved and Kendall looked at Simone, who had tears in her eyes.

"Oh honey" she whispered, grabbing Kendall. Kendall sighed and returned her hug, finally relaxing. "Kendall, as long as you are happy, the rest of us are happy for you" Simone whispered in her ear. Simone pulled back and smiled at her friend, making sure that she understood that they were behind her and in her corner.

"Thanks" Kendall whispered back.

"Well, this calls for a celebration. I say we all take a nice long lunch at the Valley Inn. My treat!" Babe said, grabbing her purse and jacket off her desk. Danielle, Simone and Kendall all agreed.

* * *

Across town, Zach was trying to play catch-up as well. He tried to work his way through the stack of paper work that had piled up in the week he had been gone, but every time he spied the wedding band on his left hand, he stopped and fiddled with it, smiling that he finally had the marriage he wanted with Kendall.

"I must say, you don't look to be working all that hard" he heard from the door. He looked up from the file on his lap to see Bianca standing in the doorway. He smiled and rounded his desk, pulling her in for a quick hug.

"Thanks for coming" he said as they sat down, Bianca on the couch, Zach in the chair.

"Well, your message was quite cryptic this morning, so I'm very intrigued."

"Yeah, sorry about all that. I just didn't want to get into it over the phone" he said, running his left hand through his hair. Bianca watched him but froze, eyes widening as she watched his left hand swipe through his hair and come back to rest on the arm of the chair.

"Um…. Zach?"

"Um… Bianca?"

"If I may ask, what the hell is on your left hand" she said, pointing. Zach just smiled, glancing down at the band.

"Oh, this old thing?" Bianca rolled her eyes at him. Zach laughed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"So I take it you haven't talked to your sister yet?"

"Zach, I just found out you two were back when I got your message this morning. So, what…"

"We got married" he said, matter of factly.

Bianca looked shocked. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was hanging open. "Bianca, you alright?"

"Wait, so you and my… Kendall and you got… you two… YOUR MARRIED AGAIN?" she said, voice growing louder with every syllable.

"Surprise" he said, smirking as he leaned back in his chair. Bianca slapped him on the shoulder, smiling widely at him.

"So, I take it you are on board with this?" he asked.

"On board! How could you even ask me that? You make my sister happy and she seems to do the same for you. How could I NOT be on board with that?" Zach just nodded, thanking her without words.

Bianca pulled her phone out of her purse. "Oh God, I need to call Kendall and…"

Zach grabbed the phone out of her hand. "Not yet. We need to talk."

Bianca frowned at him. "About?"

"Something I need your help with." Bianca just nodded and leaned back against the couch, getting comfortable as Zach launched into his favor.

* * *

"But, Zach, I don't want to eat at the Valley Inn!" Kendall whined as he opened the door for her.

"And for the last time, tough" he responded.

Kendall smiled shyly and pulled his tie. She backed into the wall, pulling him along with her until she was pressed between him and wall, for hip to chest. She slid one hand up his chest and around his neck as she toyed with his tie.

"But, I was kind of hoping we could do the whole naked dinner in bed thing tonight, just us, some good Chinese and a lot less clothing than we have on now" she said seductively as she licked her lips. Zach was about to respond when she pulled him down to her, attaching herself to his lips, kissing him possessively. He grabbed her hips and pushed against her, swallowing her moan as they swayed back and forth against each other.

Suddenly, the whole reason they were here came back to him and he pulled away from her quickly, before he got them a room for the night and decided to blow off dinner. He placed his left hand on her face and leaned into her, kissing her lightly on the cheek. "I promise, after dinner, we can take our dessert to go and do the whole naked dessert thing in bed" he whispered in her ear.

"Are you sure I can't convince you into dinner along with dessert" she whispered back, sucking his earlobe into her mouth.

"Oh God…" he rasped out. He pulled away from her, placing his hands on her shoulder to keep her from further seducing him. He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths, getting himself back under control. When he opened his eyes, she was smiling at him.

"C'mon" he said, returning her smile, "we're going to be late."

They rounded the corner hand in hand when they saw Bianca. She ran up to them and enveloped Kendall in a hug. "Congratulations" she whispered in her ear.

"Thanks" Kendall replied, pulling out of the hug. "So, Binks, not that it's not good seeing you, but what are you doing here?"

Before Bianca could respond, Jackson walked out of the bar. Kendall looked up at Zach and narrowed her eyes. "What the hell is going on here?" she asked him hotly.

Zach grabbed Kendall's free hand and turned her toward him. "Kendall, you need to talk to Erica. I know you love her and cutting her out of your life isn't something you should do in the heat of the moment."

"But Zach, she…"

"Kendall, I know. She's been unsupportive, hateful, sometimes down right evil and questioning your every move. But she's still your mother and I know what your relationship with her means to you. I just think you really need to give her another chance before deciding to make a radical decision like never speaking to her again. Jackson, Bianca, and I are going to get the table. Just go talk to her, take as long as you need, then decide. That's all I'm asking."

Kendall sighed and nodded. Zach placed a light kiss on her lips as Bianca waved to Jackson. The three of them headed into the dining room. Kendall stood in the doorway of the bar, seeing her mother facing away from her. She ran her hands down her dress and took a deep sigh before walking over to the table.

"Mother" Kendall said tersely as she stood next to the table.

"Kendall?" Erica said, questioningly. "Where is Jackson?"

"Apparently we've been set up. May I sit?" Erica just nodded and Kendall slipped into the chair across from her.

They stared at each other, not really knowing what to say. Kendall decided to break the ice. "How have you been?"

"I've been alright. I'm very upset that you haven't returned any of my calls this last week…"

"Zach and I were in Las Vegas, Mother"

"I should have known" Erica snarked into her glass, taking a sip.

"Don't start, Mother, I mean it!" Kendall snapped back.

"Kendall, I've been worried about you. I feel horrible about what happened at the courthouse and…"

"Have you thanked Zach?"

Erica just stared at her. "Well, I did thank him for setting the record straight so that I didn't have to go jail, but…"

"But what? No, that's it, Mother. You thanked him for what he did for you and that's it. There's not but. Good Lord, Mother, you can't even…" Kendall's words died off as she spied him walking into the bar. "Oh, sweet Jesus" she moaned, closing her eyes and counting to ten to keep her anger in check.

Erica glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "Ryan! Good, you made it! C'mon over" she yelled, motioning to the empty chair between her and Kendall.

"Erica, good to see you" he said, dropping a kiss on her cheek. He slid into the chair and looked over at Kendall. "Kendall."

Her eyes snapped open and she glared at him. "What?"

"How are you? I've been trying to call, but…"

"She was in Las Vegas with Slater" Erica spit out. Ryan looked at Erica and then back at Kendall, shaking his head. "Figures" he said under his breath.

Kendall shot out of her chair, glaring at Erica and Ryan. "That's it. I'm not going to sit here and take this abuse from you two."

Ryan grabbed her hand. "Kendall, really, you need to calm down. Erica just thought the three of us should talk about this slightly dysfunctional family dynamic we have going on right now and I…"

"Well, then, why are we leaving Zach out of this discussion? He is my husband after all!"

Erica and Ryan froze. Kendall yanked her hand free from Ryan's grip and grabbed her purse off the table. Kendall started to walk away when Erica stopped her.

"Please tell me this is a sick joke."

"What, mother, tell you that my happiness is a sick joke! Tell you that being in love, truly in love is a sick joke! Tell you that I'm married to a man who loves me for me and would never ask me to not be me is a sick joke! Well, I can't, because it's all true. Zach and I remarried in Las Vegas and life is perfect."

"You can't have married Slater" Ryan spit out, standing up to face her.

"Oh, I can and I did Ryan. That piss you off? You going to try to hit me again, Ryan!" She was so angry at this point that she was screaming. She knew the whole bar was staring at the three of them, but she didn't care. Zach, Jackson and Bianca appeared in the doorway and Zach's eyes narrowed when he saw Ryan standing there. From the looks on their faces, Kendall knew immediately that Erica had invited Ryan to join them that evening without consulting the other three.

"Kendall, that afternoon… I was worried about you and you weren't listening to me and…"

"Stuff it, Ryan! I'm beyond not being interested. You two deserve each other, you know that. You and my mother can commiserate together for the rest of your lives for all I really care!"

Erica pushed herself between Kendall and Ryan. "So, that's it! You are choosing a Cambias over your own mother!"

"NO!" Kendall was trembling at this point, so mad she couldn't even see straight. "Mother, I'm choosing the man that loves me no matter what, no matter what decision I make or what I choose to do with my live. I'm choosing unconditional love, which is something you've never been able to grasp with me. I deserve to be cherished and put above all else, and ZACH SLATER is that man."

"So, you ARE choosing him over me, I take it" Erica responded.

"Can you accept him, mother? Can you invite him into your home as my husband and the love of my life?"

"Kendall, really, you can't expect me to just…"

"Well, that's what I needed to know. And to answer your question, yes, I choose Zach over you." Kendall turned on her heel and walked out of the bar, tears streaming down her face, Zach following quickly on her heels.

TBC…


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **see chapter 1  
**Thanks for reading! I appreciate the feedback!**

* * *

Zach caught up to her outside the Valley Inn. He grabbed her and pulled her into his arms, letting her cry her heart out. He seethed with anger that Erica had the audacity to invite Ryan to dinner without thinking, without asking Bianca or Jackson. She was holding on to him like he was the only thing anchoring her to the ground and it broke his heart. All she wanted was her family to accept her for who she is, but that didn't seem to be in the cards for her and he hated that.

"I want to go home" she sobbed into his ear. He held onto her tightly with one arm as he dug the valet slip out of his pocket. He nodded the young man over and handed him the slip. His car was quickly returned and Zach swept Kendall up in his arms and carried her to the car. He strapped her in and started around the car, glancing through the glass doors one last time. He saw Erica running toward them and the anger and hate he felt toward that woman right now as almost too much for him to bear. He jogged around the car and slammed his door as Erica screamed Kendall's name. He peeled out of the parking lot before Erica had a chance to get to the car.

* * *

Zach was washing dishes when he heard a knock on the door. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Bianca through the window. He dried his hands on a dish towel and opened the door. Bianca smiled sadly at him and walked in, collapsing onto his couch.

"I tried Kendall's first but…"

"Yeah, the phone was ringing when we opened the door and… well, she couldn't take it and neither could I, so we came over here."

They hadn't even bothered to answer the constantly ringing phone that evening. He took one look at her and knew staying at her condo was not an option, not right now. He pushed her into her bedroom and told her to grab some clothes and stuff for a bath and they could come back over later in the night to get anything else she wanted, once the phone stopped ringing. He closed all the blinds in her windows as she packed. He pulled the door closed behind them and entered his condo. Kendall went to take a shower while Zach ordered food. He then called Edie and asked her to send someone to the store for supplies since he had nothing in his condo. He went to check on Kendall and found her curled up on top of the covers, asleep. He smiled down at her and pulled the covers up around her. He dropped a light kiss on her forehead and pulled the door closed.

"You want something to drink?" he asked Bianca, pulling a bottle of water of the fridge for himself. Bianca shook her head and he sat down in the chair, leaning his head back, finally trying to relax.

"Is Kendall asleep?"

Zach opened his eyes and looked at Bianca and saw the concern on her face. "Yeah, she crashed when we got back here. She took a shower and immediately fell asleep. She hasn't even eaten tonight."

"How is she?"

"Upset, understandably. Hurt, angry, having a desire to kill Lavery with her bare hands and I'm about to give into her on that one."

Bianca sat straight up and looked him square in the eye. "Zach, you have to believe that neither Uncle Jack nor I knew that mom had invited Ryan tonight. We never would have…"

"Bianca, I know and more importantly, Kendall knows. She's not mad at you and she's not mad at Jackson. Your mother…"

"Zach, mom didn't know… I mean, she didn't know about that afternoon after the hearing. I had to tell her tonight, after you two ran out. She started questioning everyone about Kendall's line about Ryan trying to hit her again. I thought Uncle Jack was going to take him out right there when he heard about Ryan raising his hand to Kendall. Ryan kept trying to back peddle, kept trying to convince us that it was all a misunderstanding, but it wasn't. Mom really wanted to believe him, I could tell, but I told her that everything I saw that afternoon. Zach, she laid into Ryan right there in the middle of the Valley Inn. I don't know if he will be able to show his face around town much for the next few days. But, Zach, she didn't know and now that she does..."

"She wants to make amends?" Bianca and Zach's heads shot up at the sound of Kendall's voice. She was leaning against the wall and Zach was next to her in an instant.

"Are you alright?" he asked, cradling her face in his hands. She smiled up at him and nodded. "I'm fine, I just got hungry." He let out the breath he had been holding and kissed her lightly on the lips. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her over to the couch. She sat down and headed into the kitchen.

"What would you like? There's the Chinese I ordered for you earlier or I could make you a turkey sandwich or bake some chicken or…" He looked over and laughed at the looks that the Kane sisters were giving him.

"What? I called Edie earlier and she went to the store for me since I had little food…"

"You mean no food" Kendall retorted.

Zach just waved his hand at her. "Whatever. Anyway, the point is that now, there is food, so tell me what you want."

"I want the Chinese" Kendall said.

"I'll take a turkey sandwich" Bianca said. Zach just smiled at the women and started to make food, giving them a chance to talk.

Bianca turned back toward her sister and grabbed her hands. "Kendall, you have to believe that Uncle Jack and I had no idea that mom called Ryan and told him to come tonight."

Kendall smiled warmly at her sister. "Bianca, I know. I never thought for a moment that you would have…" Kendall couldn't even get the words out, but Bianca knew what she meant. She pulled Kendall in for a hug.

After a moment, they separated, tears in both of their eyes. "Kendall, mom…"

Kendall held up her hand. "Bianca, I need to say my peace in reference to our mother. She may not have known the can of worms she was opening early by putting me and Ryan together, but she still did it, even though I have tried and tried and tried to get through to her. Yeah, so she didn't know about Ryan. So she's going to stop pushing us together for now, but that doesn't mean that she's going to automatically warm to Zach. She's never going to do that, not even for me or for you, no matter how many times we ask. If she can't do that, Binks, then I can't be around her, I just can't. Zach is the most important thing in my life right now and if she can't accept him, me and us, then I can't be a part of her life. You understand that, right, Binks?"

Bianca just nodded, understanding where her sister was coming from. Their mother was less than supportive, to say the least, when they did things she completely disapproved of and were with people that she felt were beneath them. "I do, Kendall. It just hurts knowing that the family is falling apart because of the legendary Erica Kane stubbornness."

Kendall wiped the tears off her face. "I wish you were still here, Binks. It's hard with you half a world away. I want you back."

Bianca smiled through her tears. "Well, I may just have to come back. It's getting expensive flying back and forth, and that's saying a lot considering I've got half the Cambias fortune at my disposal."

That made Kendall laugh out loud and smiled brightly. Bianca hugged her sister again. "But I'm here for you Kendall. I'll be here if you need me to be. You can call me anytime and I'll answer. I'm not going to leave you, even if I'm not in town." The two sisters shared a hug and lots of tears. Zach watched the scene from across the room and felt the strings on his heart pull. He gave them a moment before clearing his throat, making his way back over to the two of them with a tray full of food and drinks.

* * *

Life went on for Zach and Kendall and the rest of Pine Valley. Fusion's new line was a hit and sent the company into a brand new stratosphere. Kendall, Babe and Simone were the new it girls across the country and Fusion products were in high demand. The casino flourished and quickly became the place to see and be seen for everyone on the east coast.

The week after the blow out at the Valley Inn, Zach sicced his lawyers on Ryan and the parental rights form Livia had prepared. After Ryan's attack on Kendall that fateful afternoon and with Zach and Bianca's testimony, the agreement was struck down, leaving Kendall with sole rights to the unborn baby. Knowing that Ryan had no rights to this child set both their minds at ease. Ryan did his best to fight his way through in court, but even with the best of the Cambias lawyers behind him, the testimony from Bianca and Zach had severely damaged his credibility and the judge felt that he could be a danger to this child and immediately severed his rights.

* * *

It was a night like any other. It was a warm night at the end of May and both were sleeping soundly until Kendall moaned and shot up in bed, awaking quickly. She looked down at her large belly and smiled. She reached over and shook Zach.

"Sorry, I don't have time right now" he mumbled in his sleep.

"Zach, wake up" she yelled at him. His eyes shot open and he looked up at her. He pushed himself up and wiped the sleep out of his eyes.

"Kendall? What's going on? Are you alright?"

"Well, I'm fine right now, but I'd imagine I'm going to be in some hellish pain in about 3 hours or so." Zach just stared at her. "Zach, my water broke." Again, he just stared. "Zach, water broke, baby coming, any of this…" His eyes went wide and he shot out of bed, looking around.

"Kendall, are you sure? I mean…"

Kendall got out of bed and walked around to him, putting her hand on his arm. "Zach, I'm sure, but please, don't freak out, not yet anyway. Just get changed and grab my bag out of the closet. We need to head to PVH now."

Zach just marveled at how calm Kendall was being as she moved around the room, changing her clothes. "How are you so calm?"

She just smiled at him. "Yeah, remember you asked me that when I'm screaming cuss words at you in delivery."

He just laughed and they gather their things and quickly headed out. It was late morning before Jeremy William Slater made his appearance in the world. It seemed that all of Pine Valley turned out to visit the newest member of the Slater family. Bianca had been Zach's first call as they drove to the hospital and she was the first one to greet the baby. She called everyone she could think of when Greg Madden came to let her know that the baby had been born and everything had gone fine. Soon, half the town was waiting to visit the new parents. Most brought flowers and balloons and a courier delivered a large blue teddy bear, no name attached. Zach and Jackson shared a look, knowing that the bear had come from the one person who knew she had to stay away.

* * *

It was a warm Saturday afternoon three months later. It was the first down weekend Kendall and Zach had since the baby was born. Marian found them the perfect house not too long after Jeremy was born and they spent all their free time making sure it was decorated and finished to their specifications before they moved him. Marian quickly found buyers for both condos and soon they were moved into their new home.

Zach came into the bedroom with the baby in his arms as Kendall came out of the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel.

"So, Jeremy and I were talking…"

"Were you now?" she said, laughing at the idea.

"Yes, we were, and Jeremy feels that we should get out and enjoy the afternoon. His request was to go to the pumpkin festival outside of town, but I said we should just go to the zoo, so we decided to let you decide." Kendall looked over at her two men, waiting for her to make a decision. She couldn't help but smile. Zach took to fatherhood like he had been doing this forever. He spent a lot of time talking to Jeremy about everything from the Red Wings to the third quarter casino profits.

"Well, since I'm still kind of creeped out by your obsession with the zoo…"

"HEY!" he yelled from across the room.

"… and the pumpkin festival is going to be over in a few weeks, I think I'll have to side with Jeremy on this one."

"Figures" he said to the baby. "You know, kiddo, there was a time when your mother used to side with me. Ah, the good ol' days!" Kendall laughed and threw her towel at him as he headed out of the bedroom.

They were currently showing Jeremy the animals in the petting zoo when they heard "Kendall" from behind them. Kendall immediately stiffened and turned to see her mother and Jackson standing behind her. She looked over at Zach, who was adjusting Jeremy in his arms and staring at Erica. He looked over at Kendall and shrugged. Kendall closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to decide what to do. Zach nudged her shoulder and she took a couple of steps toward Erica.

"Jackson, Erica. How are you?"

Jackson gave Kendall a kiss on the cheek. "You look good, Kendall. You don't even look like you just had a baby." He walked over to Zach and looked at Jeremy, giving Erica and Kendall some space.

"How are you mother?" she asked curtly.

"I'm doing fine. How are you?"

"We're fine, mother, doing great." They just stood there, staring at each other. Zach and Jackson shared a quick look, trying to assess the situation.

Erica took another step toward her daughter. "Kendall, I just wanted to let you know that I feel absolutely horrible about what happened all those months ago. If I had known, I would have never, ever…"

"I know, mother. And it's fine. Everything is good now, so…"

"I just…" Erica stopped and looked down, trying to gather her thoughts. "Kendall, you have to know that all I want is for you to be happy. It's all I've ever wanted."

"Well, mother, I am happy. I've got a great life these days. I've got a loving and doting husband, a beautiful son, a successful business and a loving marriage. I'm happy."

"Then I'm satisfied." Kendall eyed her mother, trying to figure out if she was being sincere or not."

"Kendall, I was thinking that… well, that maybe I could come over and visit sometime, see the new house, get to know my grandson. Would that be alright?"

"So, you want to come to my house, the house I share with Zach Slater, and visit?" Kendall was still skeptical, unsure if her mother meant the words coming out of her mouth.

"Kendall, I would be honored." Kendall could see the regret and hope mixed together on her face and she knew that her mother was finally going to really try to let her live her life.

Kendall sighed and smiled at Erica. "That would be great, mother. Anytime."

"Good" Erica said. She started to turn on her heel and walk away when Kendall reached out and stopped her. "But, if you and Jackson want, we were about to go get some food and Jeremy needs to eat, so if you two want to join us for lunch."

"That would be nice" Erica said, smiling from behind her tears. They looked over at Jackson and Zach, who both nodded. As they headed toward the cars, Zach caught his wife's eye. Jackson took the stroller from her and pushed it along. Zach grabbed his wife's hand and pulled her into him, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. He could feel that the ice was beginning to thaw between Kendall and Erica. Kendall may never fully trust her mother again, but at least they were going to try, and that's all that really mattered.

THE END


End file.
